As world leaders convene in New York for the United Nations General Assembly this year, the global conversation is dominated by trade. With sweeping tariffs back in the headlines, trade policy has returned to center stage.

For American companies, higher tariffs on products from Southeast Asia matter greatly. But if the U.S. limits its focus to reciprocal tariff schedules alone, we risk missing the bigger story — and the bigger opportunity — in Southeast Asia.

That story is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known by the acronym ASEAN. Quietly but steadily, the 10 nations of ASEAN have become one of the world’s most dynamic economic engines. The region has delivered decades of sustained growth, producing rising incomes and expanding middle classes.

Unlike China, where demographic decline has begun, ASEAN is powered by a demographic dividend: a young, digitally savvy population eager to embrace artificial intelligence, e-commerce and technological innovation. The

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